more catch-up

As I've mentioned before, it was Paul Ivan's birthday last week. We had a little family party for him. On Friday, he had some close friends over for swimming and pizza. He's twelve now, so I didn't take any pictures of his friends. He's not like Isaac--mom's not as cool as she once was.

Anyway, this was a milestone birthday. In the church, a boy can be ordained a deacon in the Aaronic priesthood when he turns twelve. Paul decided he wanted to do that. So on Sunday, Father's Day, we got up extra early for a big breakfast for dad, then headed to church a half-hour early. And there it happened. In a moment, with just a few short words, my husband conferred the priesthood to our son. Paul Ivan received a nice blessing, and then we headed into the chapel.

And it was there that Paul Ivan learned an important lesson: it's a lot harder to pass the sacrament than it looks. His best friend and Deacon's Quorum President, H (it's short for Heath), had promised to teach him all the ins-and-outs. Well, H got sick late Saturday night and couldn't be there. Guess you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket.

A busy teacher, seeing my poor lost son, came over and quickly explained the ropes. It all went fine, but as in all things--practice makes perfect.

Since Paul is our oldest son, I didn't know what to expect when he received the priesthood. I hoped that it would strengthen him as a person, and in turn it would strengthen him as a son and brother. Maybe it would even improve the rivalry he has with his oldest sister. Well, my bubble burst when on Sunday night I heard Rebekah yell, "Paul, get you and your priesthood out of my room!"

I guess some things will never change.